Zebra mussels extend Berkshire boat ramp closure

Massachusetts officials are extending Laurel Lake’s boat ramp closure in the Berkshires until at least Oct. 15 to develop new rules to prevent zebra mussels there from spreading to other waterways.

Zebra mussels in Laurel Lake (Nancy Palmieri/Globe photo)

The tiny invasive mussels, originally from Russia, were found in the Lee and Lenox lake in July. The mussels can attach themselves to all types of living and nonliving surfaces, including native freshwater mussels, docks, boat hulls, and even each other, forming layers up to 1 foot thick.

Power and steel plants, water suppliers, and other businesses that suck in fresh water spend millions each year in the Great Lakes region chemically treating or retooling pipes to prevent mussel buildup, according to the US Geological Survey. In reservoirs, the mussels can make water taste bad, and their shells are so sharp that they can cut swimmers’ feet.

Statewide, the mussels have only been found in Laurel Lake, but because their microscopic larvae can get into bilge tanks and other valves - and older mussels can attach easily to boat surfaces - it is extraordinarily difficult to stop their spread. Ships, recreational boaters, kayakers and others that move from infested water bodies to non-infested ones likely helped the mussel spread in the U.S.

State officials believe waterways in the Hoosic and Housatonic watersheds are most at risk because they have calcium concentrations and other chemical characteristics that can support breeding populations of zebra mussels.

State officials will accept public comment on the extension until Aug. 19. The October 15 date, the practical end to the boating season, will allow them to develop rules to require users of state boat ramps in many Western Massachusetts waterways to certify their boat hasn’t been on a waterway with zebra mussels or if it has, that the boat is properly decontaminated. Some Berkshire communities are developing similar rules.

Also, check out a bill filed by a Berkshire legislator regarding the zebra mussel in the Berkshire Eagle.
For some Globe zebra mussel stories go here and here.